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Railway will be made corporation, says minister

LAHORE: Pakistan Railways will be made a state corporation from the next fiscal year like the Water and Power Development Authority and the Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited, Railways Minister Mian Shamim Haider told reporters on Friday.

The minister said an eight-member Railway Board would run the affairs after the Railways would be made a corporation. “Five members including the chairman and chief executive from the private sector and three railway officers will form the new board,” he said after a meeting of the Railway Board.

The minister said that Railway employees would be given the option to work under the present railway setup or under the corporation, but the latter’s salary structure would be better than that of the Railways’.

The minister said the railway was considering increasing its fare which would be minimum due to an increase in the oil prices. He said the railway would have to suffer Rs a 375 million loss due to oil price inflation.

He said the feasibility report on linking Gwadar Port to the Railway network might be finalised till February. He said the department needed two years to link Khokhropar to the Monabao Railway station.

Mr Haider said the railway earned Rs 7 billion during the first five months of the current financial year and he hoped that it would achieve the Rs 18 billion target by the year’s end.